On my way to a noontime event in Toronto, I came across a protest outside Bob Rae’s constituency office.

It was an anti-tuition demonstration, called in sympathy with Quebec’s student protesters. The Montreal strikers were able to block entire streets for a time, but then summer came along and the turnout has dwindled somewhat.

Probably not to the sad level of the Toronto event, though. I counted seven people.

MONTREAL — Daytime protests are being held in Montreal and Quebec City today, just as they have for each of the last four months on the 22nd of each month, but the crowds are noticeably smaller than in the past.

There are also smaller crowds at night-time marches, held every evening, and the student protests have been getting less media attention in recent days. Even Opposition Leader Pauline Marois has stopped wearing her red lapel square, the symbol of the protest movement.

But protesters and their supporters warn that this is only a prelude, in anticipation of two upcoming dates: the return to school planned in August and, possibly, a September provincial election.

Quebec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir, the only elected political leader still wearing the red square, says the students are getting some much-needed rest before the next big battles.

“Anyone counting on the movement running out of steam is making a mistake,” Khadir told reporters in Montreal.

“Everyone taking a break today is doing it to bounce back stronger in August and September.”

Students say they have strike votes planned for August, which is when the one-third of striking students have been legislated to return to class.

The province’s controversial protest law, Bill 78, has declared a mid-August resumption of the school year for students who did not complete their winter-spring session. There are steep fines for people who block access to schools.

It’s unclear whether, and how, the law will affect classrooms. So far, its stipulations regarding street protests have largely been avoided — although they have been sternly condemned by the United Nations.

Now the students are weighing how to respond in what could be an active political season. They have already promised to do organizational work in ridings where the governing Liberals hold seats but appear weak, in an effort to defeat them.

“We’ll continue mobilizing — with or without elections,” said Jeanne Reynolds, one of the co-spokespeople for the CLASSE group.

Earlier this week, Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois decided to stop wearing the red felt square that has become a symbol of the ongoing protests, a decision that led to some students branding her an opportunist.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Pauline Marois decided to stop wearing the red square because it wasn’t real support for the students,” said Francis Piche, a junior college student. “The only reason she was opposing the tuition fee increase was because the Liberals were doing it but a Pequiste government wanted to do it too.

“She just wanted to avoid controversy when the election is called. For me, there’s not a lot of difference between the Parti Quebecois and the Liberal party.”

The tiny square has been prominently displayed on Marois’ lapel during the last session of the legislature. In fact, all members of the PQ caucus wore it.

But those days are over.

“I won’t wear it anymore,” the Quebec opposition leader told a radio interviewer in Montreal on Wednesday. “I wore it every day in the legislature.”

She said with the June 24 provincial holiday approaching, “I have chosen to wear the fleur-de-lis.”

Something else might also be approaching: a provincial election, with a campaign call possible as early as August.

Mathieu Desjardins, who finished his anthropology degree in December, said Marois’ decision didn’t make much difference to him.

“The red square is a symbol but the cause will remain whether there’s a red square or not.”

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